Advancing Safe Care Award

Honoring Fierce Commitment to Quality Care

The Advancing Safe Care Award honors a team of healthcare professionals within MHA-member hospitals who demonstrate a fierce commitment to providing quality care across diverse socio-economic populations, lead the charge for quality improvement, promote transparency to improve healthcare, and achieve better outcomes due to a strong culture of safety.

The journey toward reliable care is dependent on the systemization of improvement practices and continuous learning across the organization.

Nominees must show there is a progression in how their organization deploys improvement efforts in a way that increases learning.

Nominations will be evaluated on how information is shared across the organization and the learning and feedback mechanisms from the bedside to the boardroom.

Evidence of transparency among care teams, with patients and families, and with community stakeholders (25 points):

Transparency is essential to creating an organization that fosters sustainable improvement. While the detail shared may vary depending on audiences, the communication of data and information is vital in achieving buy-in and support for improvement.

Demonstrate how transparency has been shown (e.g., visual learning board, huddles, newsletter) within the organization, and external communication with the community.

Improved safety by creating high degrees of psychological and physical safety (25 points):

A culture that supports safety for patients and staff is critical to achieve sustainable improvement. Culture is set and reinforced by leaders, both formal and informal.

Show evidence a culture of safe care was nurtured in their efforts to improve.

TOTAL = 100 points

Award Winners

2019

Spectrum Health sepsis team
The 2019 winning team is the Grand Rapids-based Spectrum Health sepsis team, which includes Steve Fitch, MD; Nick Kuhl, MD; Kristen Buck, MSN; and Sarah Fisher, MS. Read about the team's efforts to decrease adult severe sepsis/septic shock mortality by building on the foundation that sepsis involves the full continuum of care.